Rs 21,000 crore deposited in Jan Dhan accounts post demonetisation

Jan Dhan bank accounts, opened under the government’s financial inclusion scheme, have seen a spurt in transactions post demonetisation with a whopping Rs 21,000 crore being deposited to these accounts.

Jan Dhan bank accounts, opened under the government’s financial inclusion scheme, have seen a spurt in transactions post demonetisation with a whopping Rs 21,000 crore being deposited to these accounts.

The money has come in after November 8 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no more be legal tender.

The maximum deposit was reported in West Bengal, Finance Ministry sources said on Wednesday.

A total of 24 crore bank accounts were earlier opened in the Jan Dhan financial inclusion scheme so as to link every household with a bank account.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Income Tax officials are scanning over 35,000 Jan Dhan accounts in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which have shown suspicious activity since demonetisation of high-value currency.

UP and Uttarakhand jointly account for bulk of 5.8 crore zero-balance accounts.

“The moment any Jan Dhan account shows deposits exceeding Rs 50,000, it will be treated as a regular savings account. Any account under PMJDY showing a sudden deposit of Rs 40,000 or more may be put under watch,” the newspaper reported, quoting a source.

Seeking to close all the gaps for people to turn their black money into white, the Finance Ministry had warned against using others' accounts to hoard cash and said that those allowing his or her account to be misused would face prosecution.

"It is hereby clarified that such tax evasion activities can be made subject to income tax and penalty if it is established that the amount deposited in the account was not of the account holder but of somebody else," the ministry had said.

Also the person who allowed his account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted under the Income Tax Act.

Earlier in the day, all the banks were directed not to take the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as deposits in the small savings schemes with immediate effect.

"The government has decided that subscribers may not be allowed to deposit demonetised currency in small savings schemes.

"Banks are, therefore, advised not to accept the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for deposits in small saving schemes with immediate effect," the RBI said.